Next trip

Well after much discussion the next trip will be Iceland in the back end of the summer 2009.
Now for the planning to begin!


Also have now started my own business up www.betterpreparedvehicles.co.uk

:-) Tj

Update now were home.

Well finally got yhe Landy back to normal as we have taken the roof rack and tent off andput it back on to the BFG MT's (tyres) and cleand most of the sand out of it!
Would I do it again? HELL YEAH! can i go now?
Link to Katy's phots is
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katynicolson/collections/72157608871977784/

Enjoy!
Off to play at Slab in the sand tomorrow!!!

Leaving Bilbao.

So were heading off from Bilbao to get home on saturday.
Had a fantastic trip with loads of great experiences and made some new good friends. Now we can start planning for the next trip!

Merida to Salamanca

Well we're in out last campsite of the trip, one recommended to us by an English couple at the last site in Merida

We were on our way by 1200 having had the brakes fixed (yay) and trundlled north through some pretty vile weather. We tought we might have avoided the worst but it started raining just as we finished setting up here and it looks like it'll continiue all night :-( and it's bloody freezing! I have 2 fleeces on and TJ is in long trousers for the first time in 3 weeks! Will be a very early night i think!

Tomorrow we head for bilbao and that long-awaited soak in a hot bath!

K

Braking point (ha ha)

Last night we determined that the sahara had done for our rear brake pads and we could not go further without causing damage to the whole brake system

We found a spanish halfords-type store and with some sign language we learned that they didn't have any, could not get any and we woulld be lucky to get any this side of Madrid (i joke about the last bit but it's not far off)

We'd spotted a truck tyre/brake place last night so steamed in there and with Felix's help as translator we are now waiting for parts to arrive (30 mins apparently) and they will fit them! Here's us in the truck bay... Best place to be!

Marbella to Merida

Another night woth no hot water, but this 4* hotel graciously charged only 1/3 of the rack rate...

Anyhow, we hit the road at about 0830 to head north via Cordoba, with a view to stopping at Merida for the night. The roads north are great once you get over the hills, and we eventually found our campsite after a bit of a tour round Merida and its roman ruins. Nice to still have light at 6.30pm, though it's fading fast!

Tomorrow we'll head to Salamanca and see how much further we want to go before stopping for the night. Campsites seem to be quite scarce in this part of Spain. One more night in the tent, then we're in bilbao hotel for 2 nights' R&R before we head home on 7th. Some of our group will be on that same crossing so it'll be nice to catch up again!

Can't quite believe it's almost all over, rather sad in fact!

Hey ho - time for a beer methinks.

Overnight location:
N 38.56.088
W 006.18.264

Sunday evening

All checked in at the hotel Mirador in Alhaurin el Grande outside Malaga. This is the last night we're together as a group, we're all going our seperate ways tomorrow a some though madrid and then on up through france, some due north, and we plan to trundle up the west side of spain to see some sights before we get to bilbao on the 5th.

This has been a good trip. There are things we would change, both in terms of the organisation and what we prepared, but generally it's been great fun. We've seen some astonishing scenery and driven some incredible terrain. The car held up well, i think, but it's going to take forver to get all the sand and dust out.

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Moulay Bousselem to Ceuta and Algeciras

0730 again on Sunday and we're on the final 150m stretch up to Ceuta for the lunchtime ferry.

Last night there were several spectacular thunderstorms, we would have enjoyed them more were we not camping... Weather this morning not much better... Not sure if ferry will run! Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Asuming it goes, we're at a hotel in malaga tonight, then 5 days in spain before the final ferry from bilbao on 7th.

Rain

You can easily see here how so much of the road network, campsites and low-lying villages get washed away. They're just not set up for heavy rain. There are mahoosive puddles along this main coast road, parts of it have disappeared altogether and this downpour will have a major effect on the rivers running down into the desert. We saw in Erg Chebbi a villge under 3ft of water that was occupied until the waters rose. There's no drainage off the roads anywhere - Essoaria town roads were as bad as those in the countryside...

K

Essoaria to Moulay Bousselem

It's 0730 saturday morning and we're about to leave Essoaria for a 300m drive north up the coast. It's cold and pouring with rain.

Hotel Palace Desdemona was very comfortable, if a bit pricey) but we're glad to be off again.

Did a little shopping yesterday - this town is very pretty, quite mediterranean in some areas, with great souks and alleys full of stalls selling all you could want.

Both have lot a little weight, not surprising as we've hardly eaten for 4 days due to dicky tums. We did find the fish restaurants yesterday and had a great lunch of fresh sole, calamari, sardines, crevettes, gambas and scampis (ugly buggers, those). Was the most we've had in days!

Current location:
N 31.30.631, W 009.46.307
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Location

N 30 28.146 W008 53.039

Taroudant to Essaoaria

Note to self - don't EVER stay in the 1* Hotel Taroiudant again. Not sure what we expected for 20eur a night but it failed miserably! Anyway, it's an interesting town, we took a horse & cart ride round the city walls and managed to avoid eating in "my brother's restaurant". Funny how ALL moroccans have a relative who has a shop or cafe or restaurant somewhere nearby...

Mooched around the berber and arabic souks, but didn't buy anything except some biscuits. We're all fed up with moroccan food so figured they couln't cock up a margarita pizza TOO badly... How wrong we were... Can't wait to camp and cook ourselves again. Hotel in Essaoaria hgad better be good else we're camping on the beach!

This morning a brief visit to a tannery (which smelled better than the hotel and carpark), i succumbed to a shoulder bag and haggled for the fist time!!

Current location, filling up for the drive to the coast, 46 litres of diesel for £25...!
N 30.27.767
W 008.52.466

Keep

Taroudant

Unfortunately we missed out on tata and a night in the wilderness because we lost a full day due to the clutch going on the landy.

Instead we headed out of zagora yesterday but only got about 30 mins out before someone else had a proble. They left most of us and went back to the garage again. It takes moroccan children about 5 seconds to sniff out a tourist, and not much longer to cover 1/2 mile agross burning sands, barefoot, to "demande stilo" (gimme a pen). We battled bravely for a while but they did wear us down and eventually Baz cracked first - he did insist though that they queued up like the english first! Followed up with making a rope swing, origami, writing and dancing lessons. We were quite glad to get aeway when the others returned 2.5hrs after they left!

Meant we had a long days drive to get back on track. Got to campsite at about 6pm, and pitched tents. TJ has been quite poorly with a tummy bug & nausea, but is much better after a good night's sleep. Attached pic is of our hotel room here in Taroudant, I hope it's more comfortable than it looks!

A 2hr drive this morning brings us to Taroudant, which is apparently like Marrakech used to be 30 years ago. We're here for the day and tonight, so will do some exploring after lunch. Tomorrow we leave for Essoauria (sp?) and then i guess we're on the home stretch up the coast.

Weather today is clear and sunny (hot, infact) so am looking forward to a mooch around the Berber and Arabic souks. And a dinner that is not tagine, brochettes or bloody couscous!

K

location

n30 31.403 w 007 53.613

Attempt #2 to leave Zagora

Yesterday we were due to leave zagora for 2 days in the wilderness. Unfortunately we didn't get more than 10k before our clutch started playing up and we had to return to the garage for repairs. Means we've lost a full day's off-road driving and have a long day ahead to get back on track.

TJ's haggling skills were put to the test and passed with flying colours at the garage, negotiating a 60% reduction in the cost to 400euro from 1000! Twice now he had been called a Berber, by a Berber - we think it's a compliment on his haggling technique...!

We feel bad for the rest of the group, and had offered to catch them up, but they all agreed to stay another night and wait with us. We'd have done the same for anyone else, but it's hard when you're the cause of the delay, specially somewhere you've been for 2 days already... Still, could have been worse, we could have been 200k away in the desert at the time!

Anyhow, fingers crossed for a smooth sailing today. Should be in Tata for 4ish.

K

Noon on 25th

It's been a difficult morning. Had a long days drive ahead, but we were forced to stop at 1100 to change the viscous fan coupling on our vehicle as we were overheating, having to do 30mph all the time.

It was quickly fixed, as we had a spare, and got under way again. Only 30 mins later one of the others had to stop with a major electrical failure. We're currently stuck in the desert wirth a fierce wind. We have to get to the garage tonight. The cars have all had a major battering and they're starting to show signs of wear and tear.

Confident though that we'll make it, just not sure when... !

N 30.12.623
W 005.08.210

Ps we're off agaon now!

Can't seeeee!

Today, it have mostly been like this! The dust is incredible. We're all filthy and the car that hd the problem earlier is now on a tow bar but we're still hacking through the dust to zagora,Tj is in his element.

Cannot wait for a shower and a cold beer or 10..!

N 30. 38.193
W. 004. 48.232

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Result.

So gearbox dropped out and its just contaminated clutch plate with engine oil as the gearbox breather was blocked. So a remove and clean, then refit. Will be ready later.

IN BITS!